How can we start to place students at the heart of the system? The HE white paper called on universities to be more accountable to students on matters of teaching quality, and many in academia have embraced this concept and are forging two-way communication with their students.

However this best practice is by no means uniform across the sector, and others are still struggling with the nuances of closing the 'feedback loop' - ensuring lines of communication between student and university are robust and transparent. Only in an environment where all parties can provide and learn from the other will students feel empowered as stakeholders in their own education and universities can improve their practices.

In order to place students at the heart of the higher education, universities must start to examine and improve the process of course evaluation. For the level of investment that students are asked to make in their future it is not unreasonable to allow them to have a say in how they are being taught, and to tell them what impact their feedback has had. A like it or lump it approach to education can only fly in the face of the aims for the university sector.

In 2011, Electric Paper gathered the opinions of senior academics and student representatives on improving course evaluation practices in universities. This report offered insight into the needs of the sector in order to improve course evaluation which are outlined below, along with suggestions on improving the process and examples of how some universities have overcome these problems.

The need to improve response rates

Universities that seek to feedback on courses and lecturers via surveys face a struggle on two fronts: the first is getting a meaningful response from students in order to evaluate teaching quality and the second is trying to avoid survey fatigue.

Coventry University has increased its response rates by using paper and moving to mid-module surveys. Professor Ian Marshall, the university's deputy vice-chancellor said: "We moved to online surveys, but the response was dreadful, so last year we introduced mid-module surveys and went back to paper. The response was super, and we are now able to turn around feedback in two weeks maximum."

The need to improve student feedback

Alex Bols, head of education and quality at the National Union of Students, told us that all too often students who participate in course evaluation surveys are then not told what happens as a result of the process. Bols said: "It's important for universities to close the loop and tell students what has happened - or hasn't happened - as a result of the feedback provided and why. This should not be an autopsy at the end of a course, but a process embedded through the learning experience so that it is of benefit to the student giving the feedback and their experience."

To make evaluation meaningful, explore in-module evaluation. It takes time in terms of implementation and analysis, but the benefits are obvious.

The need to improve turnaround time

Turnaround time is vital, but is often hamstringed by a laborious or bureaucratic process of inputting and interpreting data (as well the possibility of human error). As such, feedback may come back when it is too late for the staff to do anything about it as they are, by that time, already committed to a teaching pattern.

Exploiting innovative new technologies could help improve turnaround time, according to Professor Huw Morris, pro vice-chancellor (academic) at the University of Salford, who in his previous role as dean of Manchester Metropolitan University Business School led the trial of course surveys via mobile phones. "Going forward I anticipate that the higher education sector will need to utilise online devices to capture student feedback, but at the same time ensure that this is not done in an intrusive manner. Some element of compulsion for students in providing feedback will also be helpful in ensuring that the results are representative of underlying views," he said.

The need to improve survey administration

Universities need to have a more consistent approach to survey administration, as the management of surveys sits centrally in one university, and departmentally in another. This results in a lack of core information across the institution, mixed responses and no consistent use of data.

To address this, City University London has introduced a centralised modular evaluation system with a standard set of questions for surveys, managed centrally, which individual schools can add to if they wish, and the results of these are now part of staff appraisals. Professor Alan Speight, pro VC (student experience and academic quality enhancement) at the University of Swansea, said: "There should be a unified approach that includes core questions and specifies the way the feedback is processed - which allows benchmarking and consistency. A common set of core questions should be owned institutionally, with subject areas able to select from a bank of optional additional questions."

The need to improve the student experience

The increase in student tuition fees and the focus on student-led decision-making means that universities are under pressure to be more accountable and transparent on issues of quality.

Alex Nutt, academic affairs officer at the University of Leicester Students' Union, said: "I think students will want to know that institutions take their concerns seriously, and that education is seen as a collaborative partnership between the university and the students - not just a business transaction."

City University London's director of learning development, Professor Susannah Quinsee, added: "Universities do need to get students more involved in programme design, and evaluation and feedback is all part of that, but students also need to work with universities to tell us what data they find useful, what they expect, and above all what they find meaningful."

In short, if putting the student at the heart of the system is to be anything more than hyperbole then incremental changes need to begin to happen now in individual institutions. Course feedback is the most obvious starting point to engage students in discussion on what they truly care about - the quality of their education.